The Touch of Class December 9, 2013 Issue

A couple's path to taking class instruction

Nancy S. Shays, E. Michael Shays

I was my parents’ first Christian Science healing, coming after a doctor told my mom she could not have any children. So I went to Sunday School my entire childhood. Because my parents talked about how much Christian Science Primary class instruction meant to them, and I could see the effectiveness of their prayers, I had always wanted to heal like them. Class instruction was something I knew I had to have in order to do that.

When my husband and I decided to let God direct our searches for a teacher, I went to our Christian Science Reading Room and studied articles in the bound volumes of The Christian Science Journal and Sentinel written by teachers and, in some cases, their spouses. After about a year, it was clear to me who my teacher was going to be. I had to confess to my husband that although we had both agreed not to ask my parents’ teacher for class instruction, this teacher was indeed where I felt God was sending me. To my surprise (and his) he, too, had made the same selection. So we applied together.

On the application we were asked if there was any physical problem we were working out that might distract us from being fully receptive to the teaching. I responded that I had always wanted to be a mother, but over the four years of our marriage we had been unable to conceive. The teacher called back and said we were accepted.